Lyon Cross Country, Track & Field Announces 2018-19 Recruiting Class

2018-05-29T21:59:03Z

The Lyon College cross country and track & field teams will welcome multiple new members for the 2018-19 school year

BATESVILLE, Ark. – Lyon College head men’s and women’s cross country/track & field coach, Adam Trausch, has announced the signing of 13 new members that are set to join the programs during the 2018-19 school year. The men’s and women’s cross country teams will enter their second season of competition this fall after a seven-year hiatus, while the track & field programs will enter their first season of competition after it was disbanded in the early 1990s.

“I am excited to announce our incoming recruiting class,” said Trausch. “It is a great group of student-athletes who have experiences at high levels and will see success here at Lyon College. They will help lead us into the future as they bring back cross country and track & field to our campus. They are a talented bunch in all aspects, and I cannot wait for them to arrive in August!”

Brendan Winchester: Parker’s Chapel High School (Magnolia, Ark.)

Brendan Winchester comes to Lyon after participating as a member of the track & field and football teams at Parker’s Chapel High School in Magnolia, Ark. Winchester is a three-time state champion, winning one individual gold medal and two relay medals. He earned a gold medal in the 400-meter dash, as well as the 4x400-meter and 4x100-meter relay teams. Winchester earned all-conference and all-state accolades and was named as the Outstanding Sprinter for Parker’s Chapel track team. Winchester was named the Most Valuable Player on defense for Parker’s Chapel football team and earned the Trojan Leadership award. Winchester was also named the Male Athlete of the Year and a Hector’s Trojan award (lettered in three sports) at Parker’s Chapel.

Patrick Mitchell: Kaufman High School (Kaufman, Texas)

Patrick Mitchell was a member of the track & field team at Kaufman High School in Kaufman, Texas. Mitchell helped lead Kaufman to a third-place finish at the State Track Meet. Mitchell qualified for the State Track Meet for three straight years and earned a personal record (PR) in the boy’s 5K event with a time of 17:29. Mitchell’s top three events during high school were the mile run (4:48), 800-meter run (2:00) and the 400-meter dash (0:52).

Geoffrey Windsor: Metro Christian Academy (Tulsa, Okla.)

Geoffrey Windsor comes to Lyon after running cross country and track at Metro Christian Academy in Tulsa, Okla. He finished in the top 35 during the Oklahoma Cross Country State Meet.

Marcus Ruddick: Cave City High School (Cave City, Ark.)

Marcus Ruddick participated as a member of both the cross country and track & field teams at Cave City High School in Cave City, Ark. Ruddick earned All-State Cross Country accolades three times in his career and All-State Track & Field honors once. He was a 4A-3 All-Conference Cross Country runner in 2017. Ruddick was the Meter Conference Champion in 2015 for the 3200-meter run. During the 2018 season, Ruddick was the conference champion in the 1600-meter run, ran for the 4x800-meter relay at the state championships after winning the conference title in the event and helped his relay teams finish with the Cave City school record in the 4x800 and 4x400-meter relays. Ruddick was also a member of the 2016 4x800-meter relay team that earned a first-place finish at the conference championship. He was a member of the 2017 State Cross Country Championship Team.

Weston Klein: Francis Howell Central (Cottleville, Mo.)

Weston Klein has been a multi-sport athlete throughout high school including the designation as a five-sport athlete his freshman year, competing in football, cross country, wrestling, track, and volleyball. In his sophomore year, he dropped volleyball and continued competing in four sports. Javelin was both new to Weston and Francis Howell Central High School (Cottleville, Mo.) his sophomore year. Having started out as a shot put and discus thrower, Weston made the decision to give javelin a try. By the end of the season, he had set his PR and school record at 129'6". In his junior year, he continued to fine-tune his athletic interests by competing in football, wrestling and track & field. Through the use of YouTube videos and hard work, Weston was able to develop his javelin skills further. He began coaching the other javelin throwers he had recruited. By the end of his junior track & field season, his PR and new school record stood at 142'8" and he had qualified for districts and sectionals. In his senior year, Weston really honed in on his strengths and focused on two main sports, wrestling and track & field. In his final wrestling season, he placed in several high profile tournaments, including taking second at both the Gateway Athletic Conference Meet and the District meet, qualifying him for the State Meet. Track & field brought another successful season coaching a larger javelin team to new PRs, including his own of 148'2" at Sectionals where he just missed qualifying for the State meet.

Brian Martinez was a member of the cross country team at Salt Lake City Community College in Salk Lake City, Utah. Martinez lettered in cross country and earned his associates degree in psychology.

Erik Pelayo: Conway High School (Conway, Ark.)

Erik Pelayo was a member of the cross country and wrestling teams at Conway High School in Conway, Ark.

Ja’Keelan Writt: Longview High School (Longview, Texas)

Ja’Keelan Writt was a member of the track & field team at Longview High School in Longview, Texas.Writt helped Longview to back-to-back District 11-6A Championships in 2017 and 2018. He was a regional qualifier in the 4x400 and 4x200-meter relays.

Briar Miller: Sloan-Hendrix High School (Imboden, Ark.)

Briar Miller is a 2018 honor graduate of Sloan-Hendrix High School in Imboden, Arkansas. During his junior high and high school years, he enjoyed serving as a manager for the boy’s basketball team. His duties included serving as the team’s statistician as well as scouting opponents and filming games. In 2016-2017, his brother began participating in cross country and track which piqued Briar’s interest in those sporting events. At Lyon College, he will be the manager for the men’s cross country and track teams. At Lyon, he plans to major in Biology and participate in the Pre-Med program along with minoring in Religion and Philosophy. He is also participating in the Lyon College Honors Fellows Program.

Rachel Jones: Canyon High School (Canyon, Texas)

Rachel Jones is a 2018 graduate of Canyon High school in Canyon, Texas where she ran cross country and track for four years for the Lady Eagles. In 2017, she was named to the Academic All-State Cross Country Team. She was awarded 2015 3-5A All-District Girls Cross Country Second Team and 2015 Class 5A Region 1 All-Region Honorable Mention. She was a member of the Lady Eagle State qualifying cross country team in 2015, lettering in cross country that same year. She also played basketball her freshman and sophomore years as well as participated in the theater program's All-School Musical all four years and One Act Play her junior and senior years.

Alexandria Nagle: St. Joseph High School (Goliad, Texas)

Alexandria Nagle is a four-year letter winning in cross country and track at St. Joseph High School in Goliad, Texas. She ran at state all four years of her high school career and was named as the team’s Most Valuable Player each season. Nagle qualified for state three times in track and was named as the Newcomer of the Year her freshman year and was named as the Most Improved her sophomore year. She was also named to the Academic All-State Team.

Daisy Connor: Van Buren High School (Van Buren, Ark.)

Daisy Connor ran both cross country and trackat Van Buren High School in Van Buren, Ark.,for four years. She qualified for the State Track Meet all four years and qualified for the Meet of Champions her junior and senior years.

Subrina Cox: Thomas Edison High School (Tulsa, Okla.)

Subrina Cox was a member of the cross country and track teams at Thomas Edison High School in Tulsa, Okla. She helped the team qualify for state this past season, which was the first time the team qualified for the state meet in the last 10 years. She set a personal goal this year of running a sub-24-minute 5K, which she accomplished. She ran the mile in 6:30 in track.

Nicolas Smiley: Midwest City High School (Midwest City, Okla.)

Nicolas Smiley was a member of the track team at Midwest City High School in Midwest City, Okla., where he competed in the hurdles for four years.

Taylor Von Maxey: Tavares High School (Tavares, Fla.)

Taylor Von Maxey competed on the track team at Tavares High School in Tavares Florida. Von Maxey was a State Qualifier in the 4x100-meter relay and earned a 16th place finish at the 2A State Meet in Florida. Von Maxey competed at the District Finals in the 200-meter dash, the long jump and the triple jump.